On the Run
by Nelka Taomi
Summary: The night before Alanna and Thom separated Alanna ran away with a thief, a horse, and a bunch of lock picks. Five years later the Tusaine war is on, will Tortall win or lose it. RR Don't mind me that's a terrible summary! PG13 for later chapters, 2 B safe
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing! It all belongs to T.P.  

On the Run 

After you read this chapter plz review! r/r 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~ _I've_ _got_ _it all but I feel so deprived _

_                   I go up, I come down and I'm emptier inside_

_                Tell me what is this thing that I'm feel like I'm  missing_

_                   And why can't I let go?_

_               There's got to be more to life…_

_                 Then chasing down every temporary high to satisfy me_

_                Cause the more that I'm…_

_                Tripping out thinking that there must be more to life_

_                Well there's life, but I'm sure there's gotta be more to_

_                life than wanting more. I've got the time and I'm_

_                wasting it slowly. Here in this moment I'm halfway_

_                out the door. Onto the next thing I'm searching_

_                for something that's missing._

_                Than waiting on something other than this. Why_

_                am I feeling' like there's something I missed…_

_                        Stacie Orrico_

Alanna of Trebond lay in her bed in Trebond. Tomorrow, Alanna was going to the convent, where all her dreams would be crushed. She turned over on her bed and saw her twin, Thom sleeping, his red hair sticking to his pillow with sweat. She could only imagine what he was dreaming. She was the one who wanted to become a knight, not Thom. She had suggested that they switch places but Lord Alan was passing by when he heard them talking about switching. Thom had agreed to switch. Alan made sure that they were separated: Thom to Corus and Alanna to the City of Gods. He locked the twins' door so they couldn't run away which Alanna was planning to do. 

Before she went to bed, Alanna went to the stables and ordered that her _horse _was saddled. And then she took a brush and went over to Thom's pony, Chubby. While she groomed Chubby she thought of her escape plan. She turned around and ran into the new saddle boy. She heard he was a thief or something and he was paying for the things he stole by working there in the Trebond stable. She guessed he was about sixteen or seventeen. Alanna was surprised that he wasn't dead because the Lord Provost hated thieves especially this one. The thief was quite a nice person. He had dancing hazel eyes, auburn hair, and he never seemed to get angry. His nose was a little big but hey, who's perfect? When Alanna ran into him they both fell to the ground. He stood up first and reached out a hand to help her up. She officially changed her mind. This man couldn't possibly be a thief; he was too kind. 

"Thank you," she said blushing a little at her own stupidity, "I'm a little uncoordinated."

"No problem," he looked at her and grinned, "You're Alanna right?" She nodded. "My name is George." Alanna smiled and shook his hand. 

"You won't see me around here anymore," Alanna said, "I'll be at the convent." She looked down at her boots.

"So I've heard," George put a finger under her chin and tilted her head up. "Although you can't become a knight, what about a Shang?"

"You mean you think I would be a good fighter?" she asked, not very many people thought she could fight, besides Coram.

"Think? I know you'd be a great fighter, I've seen you with arrows. You're amazing!" George hopped up and sat on Chubby's gate/stable thing. Alanna imitated George.

"The only problem is I'm too old to become a Shang, you have to be seven at the most," Alanna said. 

"I could teach you some fighting arts," George said a smile forming his lips, "Before I came here I was a sort of a-`` "A thief, right? I know." "Does everyone know?" he asked.

"I doubt my father does, he rarely comes out of the library, the only times he comes out is when he has business but recently he's been going on walks with his fiancé." She shuddered, she hated Lady Carey, and she hated Alanna. There were a few moments of silence then, "George?" He raised his eyebrows. "I want to runaway." George started laughing a little.

"Really? And how long perhaps?" he asked laughing so hard he almost peed.

"It's not funny. I don't want to be a lady and get married and have children that can only look pretty. I don't want to be normal. I want to have adventures! I want to find the Dominion Jewel! I want to slay the Ysandir! I want to join a Bazhir tribe!" she said. George fooled around in his pocket and pulled out little mettle things. "These are lock picks," he said, "I heard that your father will be locking your door tonight so at around three a.m. meet me here. Agreed?" George's eyebrows were knitted together.

"Agreed," Alanna agreed, "Thank you George I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't met you here tonight." She hugged him then went to bed.

_She's a tough lass, _George thought, _A silly one at that._

**Hey! I hoped you liked it. I know I liked writing it. I'm writing this because I'm a total A/G fan. Don't worry to you A/J fans, you might like it as well, it's not all romance. **


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing! It all belongs to T.P.  

On the Run 

After you read this chapter plz review! R/R 

~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~__

Chapter 2:

     Alanna still couldn't sleep. Her father had locked the door hours ago. Deciding that she wouldn't get any sleep she might as well tell Thom she was leaving, nothing else. She stood and walked to her twin's bed. He turned and rolled in his bed and his red hair stuck to the pillow. She shook him.

          "Thom! Thom!" she whispered. He opened one of his violet eyes.

          "Normal people are trying to sleep," Thom said, pulling the blankets over his head. 

          "Thom! This is too important!" Alanna pulled the pillow from him as his head hit the pillow. 

          "Don't you think I want to be rested when I go to my misery tomorrow?" Thom asked.

        "Thom, I'm leaving."

     "Just because I want to sleep?" he asked.

         "Of course not. I'm running away, you might call it."

     "You're joking right? I know you. You wouldn't run away from something like the convent. The convent can't change you. You will always be you, nothing will ever change that."

       "Thom, yes it can, and it will. It'll take my dreams and rip them in half."

          "You're crazy. I expect you want to go by yourself, and then you'll come back here when you're finished, am I right?"

          "No, you're not. In fact, someone has agreed to come with me."

          "Jumping off a cliff would be safer than going with you. Well, who is this boneheaded person?"

          "His name is George," Alanna said leaving out a lot of information.

          "Alanna, I'm not stupid, you have to tell me more than his name," Thom accused.

          "Okay, well, he's tall," Thom knitted his eyebrows together. "Fine, he was a thief before he came here. He was caught by My Lord Provost."

          "Alanna! Are you insane? Running away with a thief? This convent thing has gone to your head! You are not going with him a n d that's final!" Thom argued.

          "Thom, this is my choice and my calls. You are not making the decisions of _my _life. I can screw it up myself. That's why we all have different lives, you don't have to screw up other people's," Alanna said.

          "Oh, is that your philosophy? I don't want to _screw _up your life, I want to make it better," Thom said.

          "I can do it myself. And plus, George doesn't seem like a bad person."

          "_Seem. _The keyword there is seem. You never know about those thieves, they show no emotions. I bet he just wants you to run away so that he can accompany you and be free," Thom was overprotective.

          "I don't care. I'm leaving and that's final."

               "How'd you suppose to get out? Father locked the door." Alanna reached into her pocket and pulled out her lock picks.

          "With these. The _thief _gave them to me." 

          "Alanna, you're not that much of a fool, are you?" Alanna ignored him and started on the lock.

          "You can't go through with this, you'll get caught. Father will probably hire extra security at the convent. You know how he is," Thom kept on blabbering on and on about what might happen if she got caught. Ah ha! The lock was picked. 

          "Goodbye Thom. I'll see you in, well, if everything turns out all right hopefully never." Alanna closed the door behind her and ran to the stables. It felt wrong not to bring Thom but families go their separate ways one time or another.

          "George! George!" she half yelled. She was seized from behind hand over her mouth. The person turned her around. Alanna half expected it to be George. Oh no, it was Lady Carey.

          "So, I go outside expecting to go riding and look what I find, the brat," she said as she shoved Alanna into a stall.

          "Oh, my _Lady, _did I offend you? I hope I didn't, I know that your reputation means _everything _to you." Carey pulled her own hand back and slapped Alanna on the face.

          "You don't know how long I've wanted to do that." Alanna brought her fist up intending to hit Carey but the lady caught it and twisted it. Carey pulled her hand up again but was caught from behind by another hand.

          "Hello," George said coolly. "Lady Carey, I do not believe Miss Alanna has done anything thing wrong. I believe it is your lack of _sleep _that has had you make this mistake. I suggest you go to bed, in your own room, n_ow." _Lady Carey clearly offended stomped back to her rooms.

          "Hello George, thanks, about that, and about coming with me. My brother says you're just coming with me to be free. Is that true?"

          "Well, I did think of that after you left, I'm not one for lyin.'" 

          "He also said that all thieves were non emotional," Alanna said.

          "Your brother hasn't been anywhere but Trebond, has he?" George asked.

          "Nossir."

          "Don't call me sir. I'm not." He looked outside. "We have to get goin' if you still wanna go. If we leave any later they'll notice you've gone and we'll be caught." Alanna opened her purse: twenty gold nobles. She had stolen them from her father's desk. She hopped onto her father's best and Alanna's favorite horse that George had saddled for her. George hopped onto his too. 

          "Where will we go?" Alanna asked.

          "Most likely the southern desert. It can't be anywhere they would look. The Bazhir never kill young girls like you."

          "What about you? You're older than I am and male," Alanna said.

          "We'll worry about that if the time comes." They walked their horses out of the stable and onto the road. As they reached the main road leading them to other fiefs Alanna turned around watching her old home. A single tear formed but she quickly wiped it away.

          "Do you think I'll ever be back?" she asked George.

          "I do. But I think you'll be a legend by then or at least a heroine." For the next few weeks they rode with little talking. They didn't have any trouble finding food, and they were not disturbed when sleeping. They never received any problems with getting caught. Then, finally, they reached the Southern Desert.

Sorry it's short. I have to take a shower, not like you needed to know that. 

~*SoccerrSweet*~


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own nothing! It all belongs to T.P.  

On the Run 

After you read this chapter plz review! R/R 

~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~__

Chapter 3.

          "George?" Alanna asked one day. He turned his attention to her on his gelding.

          "Yes?" He was very tan from the sun, same with Alanna.

          "I haven't seen any Bazhir. Is that bad?" she asked.

          "No, not really. Unless you _want _to," he said while slowing down his gelding.

          "No. I mean you said we might run into some of them, I was just worried about you. You said they wouldn't hurt young girls like me, like I said a couple of weeks ago, you're older and male."

          "I'm only seventeen. And, I am also a thief, and thieves know how to fight, you could say." Alanna got a mysterious look in her eyes. 

          "You said you would teach me to fight, well, we know that we've pretty much lost the people following us. So now, when we stop, you can teach me," Alanna brought her mare closer to his. "_Please?" _George looked like he was deep in thought. He made up his mind.

          "Sure, I will. The only thing is that you cannot whine about too much work, if you do, no more lessons for a long, long time. Got it?" George dealt.

          "Fine by me." George hopped off his horse. Alanna did the same.

          "Your first lesson begins now," he said. After that, he gave her a knife. They spent a couple of hours working on disarming. Aha! Success! Now for attacking. Not as lucky. A couple hours passed and still no luck. George told her that they would stop for the day. Alanna told him that it was only midday, but George wouldn't continue.

          "George?" she asked later that day while they were riding. He turned his attention to her. 

          "Yes?" he asked.

          "Do you have the feeling that we're being watched?" she asked nervously.

          "Yes, I do. Get your bow ready. Just in case it's needed," he said calmly. He squinted at the horizon; black shapes in the distance. "Hillmen. Not as dangerous as Bazhir but they leave non alive alike the Bazhir. They kill anyone that crosses their path. Even a god."

          "Surely not a _god. _Because gods can't die," Alanna said.

          "I suppose. But right now we have more to worry about," he said taking out his knives. Alanna started trotting out.

          "Charge, right?" she asked. George was about to object when she started down the rather large hill. 

          "Alanna!" he yelled. "Mithros she's a prick," he then muttered to himself before charging after Alanna. The two collided with the desert men who were a spirited group. George thrust his blade into one's chest. Alanna's mare was a warrior horse and kicked Hillmen as they came. She saw one go after George. She sent an arrow through his spine, not George's. It seemed as if there was a never-ending supply of Hillmen. Suddenly, an arrow not Alanna's own hit a rather ugly Hillman. Alanna took a risk and looked behind and saw men in various colored burnooses. 

          They were saved. Or so she thought. George cut off another hillman with a sound of relief. He too turned and saw the men in burnooses. The supposed Bazhir defeated the villains while a few escaped off into the desert.

          "Come back, coward!" Alanna cried.

          A Bazhir who looked to be the headman went up to George as he dismounted. Alanna's eyes flashed towards an axe gleaming in a fallen hillman's hand. It glimmered for a moment. Alanna stared: against the yellow-orange fire that filled her sight was a picture.

A city. It looked as if the buildings were made of marble. The city was ghostly-but beautiful.

Her eyes cleared, and the vision was gone.

Their rescuers formed a loose circle around her and George. The Bazhir that had approached George for a while said nothing only stared.

Finally he nodded. "I am Halef Seif, headman of the Bloody Hawk tribe, of the people called the Bazhir," he said formally. Alanna couldn't help but think that he looked a little young to be a headman of a Bazhir tribe. "Those who are dead were trespassers on our sands, riding without leave. You also come here unbidden. Why should we not serve you as we did these others?"

_Let's see, because we don't kill people within fifty feet of us just because they're there,_ Alanna thought acrimoniously.

Suddenly George spoke. "I hope you will treat us fairly, Halef Seif of the Bloody Hawk. We took nothing. We harmed nothing, the youngster and I. We are simply ridin' south."

"To where are you riding south with a girl no older than ten?" Halef Seif asked firmly when he fixed his eyes on Alanna.

"We are ridin' to the University of Carthak. She is to become a mage," George said formally. Halef Seif turned to his men and started talking amongst them.

"Do you suppose by which they are talking like that is a good thing?" Alanna asked George quietly who hopped back onto his horse.

"I don't know. Just pray to the Goddess it's good," George muttered back. The headman turned around to face the two Northerners.

"We accept that you are taking the young girl to Carthak. As headman of the Bloody Hawk, I invite you to share our fire this night," he announced.

"We are honored by your invitation. Certainly we could not think of refusing," George bowed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The tent Alanna and George were given to share for the night was large and airy, well stocked with comfortable pillows and rugs. Alanna flopped down, thinking of the village itself. A rough count of the tents indicated the Bloody Hawk encompassed at least twenty families.

Her reverie was interrupted by a young girl of the tribe. She wore the face veil all Bazhir women put on when they began their women's cycles of monthly bleeding. She balanced a tray of food and wine. Carefully she placed it on the ground between George and Alanna.

"I am Anneka. You will rest here tonight until tomorrow when you ride to Carthak," she said to them. She looked to be about thirteen. 

"Thank you, Anneka. We appreciate the food," George thanked. She bowed and quickly scrambled from the tent. After they ate George and Alanna rolled themselves up in embroidered throws and closed their eyes.

"Goodnight George," Alanna whispered.

"G'night Alanna," he yawned.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been really busy lately. And plus, I just had the stomach flu. 

SoccerrSweet 


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